


Fated Hearts

by Flameoflight



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M, Romance, Romantic Soulmates, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmate-Identifying Timers, Soulmates, Soulmates Toni Stark and Phil Coulson
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-20
Updated: 2016-10-09
Packaged: 2018-08-16 09:02:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 14,989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8096101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flameoflight/pseuds/Flameoflight
Summary: A story about soulmates in the MCU. Phil Coulson was born with a non-working timer. Sixteen years later it turned on. It wasn’t until he was almost fifty that the numbers would run down. Halfway across the country, Antonia Stark, the Heiress to Stark Enterprises is born, and raised to two indifferent (or outright abusive) parents. Her own timer shows that she won’t meet her soulmate for years and so puts it out of her mind. This is the story of Phil and Toni, with lots of AU moments!





	1. The Players in the Game

**Author's Note:**

> So this is an interesting story, that has been in my head for a while. I will make sure to post the full list of characters and such, and any other notes at the beginning of my story alright!

**The Players of the Game**  

* * *

 

 

 

A story about soulmates in the MCU. Phil Coulson was born with a non-working timer. Fourteen years later it turned on. It wasn’t until he was almost fifty that the number’s would run down. Half way across the country, Antonia Stark, the Heiress to Stark Enterprises is born, and raised to two indifferent (or outright abusive) parents, with her own timer showing that she won’t meet her soulmate for years and so puts it out of her mind. This is the story of Phil and Toni, with lots of AU moments!

 

Starts in Iron Man, ends some time after Age of Ultron (haven’t seen anything but Deadpool after that, or anything after Coulson becoming Director of SHIELD).

 

* * *

The Main Players

* * *

 

  
Antonia E. “Toni” Stark - Female Lead]

Phillip J. “Phil” Coulson - Male Lead

Elizabeth J. Elsa Stark - Daughter of Toni and Phil.

 

* * *

 

The Secondary Players

* * *

 

James 'Rhodey' Rhodes \- War Machine, Toni's Best Friend, her Sidekick (not that she calls him that)

Bruce Banner - The Hulk, Best friend of Toni, romantic interest of Natasha

Natasha Romanov - Black Widow, Friend of Toni, Bruce’s romantic interest.

Happy Hogan - Current/Former Bodyguard, Brother Figure to Toni, Pepper’s husband

Pepper Potts - Current/Former PA to Toni, Best Friend/Sister to Toni, Friend of Phil

Melinda May - SHIELD Agent, Phil’s Best Friend

Leo Fitz - SHIELD Scientist, Jemma’s Romantic Interest, Phil’s Friend

Jemma Simmons - SHIELD Scientist, Leo’s Romantic Interest, Phil’s Friend

Skye - SHIELD Agent/Other, Phil’s Friend/Daughter Figure

Antoine Triplett - SHIELD Agent, Phil’s Friend

Edwin Jarvis - Stark Butler, Toni’s real father figure, toni’s friend.

Peggy Carter - Former Director of SHIELD, Toni’s Aunt/Mother Figure, Phil’s Idol

Howard Stark - CEO of Stark Enterprises/Inventor, Toni’s Father, Abusive

Maria Stark - Wife of Howard, Toni’s Mother, Neglectful

Peter Parker - Spiderman, Toni’s Protege, Toni’s Friend

Harley Keener - A brilliant kid, Toni’s friend

JARVIS - Current/Former AI Butler, Toni’s Family/Friend

The Vision - Toni and JARVIS’s ‘kid’ persay, Fellow Avenger, Friend

FRIDAY - Future/Current AI Butler, Toni’s Friend

The Avengers - Pretty much all of the other characters that might be mentioned.

Anyone else - Either one of my own or part of the MCU

 

* * *

 

  
Toni’s history is a bit different than Tony’s. She’s a feminist, but she’s still had many lovers, and has amazing parties. She’s got all of the same talents as Tony, though they are tempered by her smaller size (being 5’3”), and always having to fight for her position. She’s slightly more emotional than Tony, but that doesn’t seem to matter much she always gets her job done. Toni has idolized her aunt Peggy, and at times can seem a bit like her, having learned to throw a punch from her, and how to be an elegant badass, though usually Toni goes more crude than elegant. The rest will come out in the story.


	2. In the Beginning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The introduction to the characters, and their first moments together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This may seem like stuff we've seen, or gone over, but I figured I needed to get things out into the open. Their relationship is complicated, and I wanted to set up some of the ground work. Hopefully more will come soon!

In ‘64, a boy was born in Wisconsin. It was just after it was decreed in the US that everyone got a timer. It was a timer that showed up to years of when one would meet their soulmates. He was given one at birth. It was completely zeroed out, but his family didn’t worry to much about it. He lived a pretty happy life, even if his time with his father was cut short. Even so, he played baseball, and had an obsession with Captain America, and Peggy Carter. For the most part he was a smart normal kid.

He was sixteen when he woke up to having his timer running. His mother was overjoyed and took him out to ice cream and a movie. Of course there was a tinge of sadness. She knew she’d never get to meet this lovely soulmate. He wasn’t supposed to meet this person for twenty-eight years. He’d be in his forties, and very likely she’d have passed away. It didn’t matter though, she was happy for him. 

Two years later he entered the Marines, but before he was there long, he was approached by Nick Fury, and was taken into SHIELD. From there he was trained, and one of his first assignments was to watch, at a distance, a friend of the director’s daughter. Stark Enterprises had sold a lot of tec to SHIELD, and Director Carter wanted their young four year old daughter, who had just made it into Times Magazine because of her brilliant skills, to be protected. From a distance, Coulson watched the little girl. An only child like himself, she sought her parent’s approval. She only got it when she was brilliant at mechanical things, from her father, otherwise he either ignored her or mentally abused the little girl, though that was less obvious. What was obvious was the fact that the only way the four year old girl could get her mother’s attention was acting out, and that started a long cycle. 

Antonia Stark was supposed to be a boy. The Stark’s expected a boy, and even had a name picked out. Her father refused to let go of the name though, and just changed it to the feminine version. The girl was shuffled off to nannies, and the Butler, Edwin Jarvis. The man gave his heart to the little girl, and even when she acted out, he was there to prove he still loved her, even in her most bratty moments. Her aunt, Peggy, took her into her heart, as if she was her own daughter. Years later Toni would turn to her Aunt for advice, but as a kid it wasn’t important. 

She was four when she appeared on Times cover her hair in a neutral cut, next to her dad, easily pointing at what pieces went into what, and even putting some of them together that she could fit, in a car engine. This was the beginning of her deep love of cars. Old and new. She strived for her father’s attention, and as a young girl did her best to seem more like a boy, which irritated her mother. And when her mother was irritated she irritated Howard, and then Howard took it out, verbally on Toni. The cycle never ended though, as Toni desperately craved her father’s attention. 

It was when she was five when Coulson was pulled from the long distance protection detail, and he never met the girl in person, though they got close a couple of times, where she ran off into his and his partner’s quadrant of protection, but in general she was quick to return to her publicly ‘doting’ mother and father. By the time she was nine, she was in highschool, and watched, with brilliant brown eyes, as the Soviet Union fell, and the world changed. Coulson went on to do other things, never really forgetting his time protecting the Starks, but there were other things going on in his life. 

It was when she was sixteen, that again, Toni was thrown into the news. She’d graduated from MIT. She was quick to keep going, turning to her aunt in a time of panic over an older guy, from college. Peggy was quick to swoop in and make it clear to the boy that in no way was he to harm Toni, or else wrath would rain down on his head. He left the girl alone, but it taught Toni that she could turn to her aunt when needed. Jarvis was always there, keeping her calm, and doing his damndest to give her some level of normalcy, but that was not to be. She was a brilliant girl, who strived for greatness, pushed by her father. Toni was never close to her mother, but it didn’t really matter.

Toni continued to blow up the news as she threw parties, caused car accidents, and caused trouble everywhere she went. As she got older, she grew more daring. Anything to get her parent’s attention. She met another smart man in college, James 'Rhodey' Rhodes. The man became her best friend easily, and he often found himself pulled into her schemes, but he never stopped her. The last time she saw her parents she was lounging on their pool, as Jarvis shooed them to the car so they could go to some party or what not. Toni enjoyed the sun to much. She was twenty one. Later that day, she was alone in the world, except for her Aunt, who had, at this time, retired from SHEILD, and her father’s business partner Obadiah Stane. At the funeral she cried, though it wasn’t for the two bodies that shared her name, but the one of the man who was more her father than Howard Stark had ever been. The loss of Jarvis hit her hard, and it was Stane who pulled her up, reminding her that she now owned and was the CEO of Stark Enterprises. It was barely a week after her family’s death that she took a picture with Stane, showing him to be the wise teacher, and her the young, brilliant, beautiful inventor she was, ready to face the world. 

The parties only got harder, the fun better. She hired Happy Hogan as her personal bodyguard. When she was twenty three she went to a party in the Hauge, and met many people, even had a quick fling with another brilliant scientist, and went on her way. She build an AI, and gave it the name of her beloved butler and friend, JARVIS. She let his AI learn, and grow, and set him to keeping her life in order, an AI Butler, but more than that, in many ways, as he gained snark, from her own attitudes, and became as much apart of her family as Happy. 

Pepper Potts was found trying to steal documents from Toni, but Toni didn’t put her in jail, instead hiring the woman, and befriending her. They became close friends, and Pepper settled into helping keep the party girl’s life on track, or as on track as Toni would allow. Life continued, and the multimillion dollar company that Toni had inherited, turned into a multibillion dollar company. Her brilliance took it into the next age. 

2008 was a fateful year for her. The beginning was normal. Huge party at her Malibu house for New Years, lots of new guns, approving the Jerico, so on and so forth. It was the trip to Afghanistan that would change everything for Antonia Stark. She was at the second live test of the Jerico, and the first test the government would see. Her best friend Rhodey was there. He’d been the one to get her to make the Jerico for the US Air Force. He was the one who’d gotten her out to Afghanistan. 

What happened next the world watched in horror. Her convoy was hit. She was presumed dead. Rhodey had gotten out, and yet he still hoped, as did her entire family, from Happy to JARVIS, none of which really believed her dead. SHIELD watched worried, as the attack had seemed to perfect. 

Then, months later, a spot in the Afghanistan desert lit up, and something that could only be called a rocket in the shape of a man blasted straight up before landing somewhere, and instantly, Rhodey got a search team out. The picture that was snapped was of the slim Toni Stark holding up her hand in a peace sign that would become her signature, with a button down wrapped around her head to ward off the sun, her hair chopped short. It was still a few weeks later as the US Government got her back on her feet. Not that she came off the plane at the airport looking amazing. Infact anyone who saw her could say she looked like hell, with scabs on her face, and her arm in a sling, but she wore an expensive suit, and looked confident, as she walked towards Pepper, Rhodey at her side. 

What happened next was known to the world. Coulson had been tasked with speaking with Toni about what had happened, and debriefing her. Didn’t quite get to do it, but it didn’t matter. When she started eating a burger in the press conference, Coulson was sure he wasn’t going to talk to her at all that day. He watched her noting idoly, that his timer was counting down mear weeks until he met his soulmate in person. He’d spent his life not thinking about it, doing his own thing, enjoying life. Now he was nervous, but really, he had a job to do. This entire time, Toni hadn’t even glanced at her’s. She was to focused on the future. She announced that she was shutting down the weapon making part of her company, and Stane blew up at her, but, unlike the girl who had been terrified of the world, had turned to him in many things, she’d grown a backbone in Afghanistan, and refused to back down. 

Toni went radio silent. To the public she disappeared. To Pepper, Happy and JARVIS she only grew more intense as she worked on a project in her private lab. The hole in her chest was a badge of honor for her, but she had to fix it, make it work better, and she did, using Pepper for help. Then she heard there was a party. On her birthday. Her party. And she wasn’t invited. Which just couldn’t happen. Son her a beautiful little black dress, her hair in a cute bob, and makeup on point, she arrived, driving her own audi to the party, and easily gliding in, looking every bit the Stark Heiress her mother would have loved, and Peggy would have been proud of. She made it to the bar noting that it seemed she was being Iced out. And that bothered her, a great deal. Coulson was at that party. 

Of course things don’t always go as planned. He knew it was this party he was going to meet that special someone who’d complete him. What he didn’t expect was for her to almost completely ignore him as her attention was taken across the room. Toni Stark barely noticed him, giving him her easy grin, and holding out a hand as he again, tried to speak with her, her attention on a pretty blonde reporter across the room. He frowned as he took her hand, noting that both her and his timers had zeroed out. He had been in shock or he’d have grabbed her, but he watched as she glided off to speak with the pretty redhead, Pepper Potts and even demanded a dance with her friend. It hadn’t ended well that time either, but now Coulson had a whole new problem. His soulmate was none other than that four year old girl he’d watched for a year. That was a bit of a shock, but he still had a job to do. 

Then Ironman started to appear. It was built like a man, an obvious need to protect the chest, demanding a flat one, and it even moved like a man, but Coulson was sure he knew who was in it. The explosion in Afghanistan, so soon after Toni went to her house in Dubai for a party or twenty, gave him the last bit of information.

He jumped at the chance to help Pepper when she asked for his help in going up against Stane, who had, more or less, come out as the villain. Toni’s new suit, had, however more tools than Stane’s ever would. Coulson heard, through the phone, as Toni told Pepper to blow the Arch Reactor at Stark Enterprises. It was a brave move, and could have ended with her own death, but it didn’t, barely. She seemed a bit lost when she came too, and was transported to the hospital before he could speak with her, Pepper riding in the car with her. For now, he’d have to be content with figuring out what lies had to be told. Ironman was in the news almost instantly, with people wondering who it was. He had to figure out what that lie was.


	3. I am Ironman

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Phil and Toni have their first "meeting of souls", the world seems to stop for a moment. Life doesn't though, and it isn't long before Toni's defying Phil for what she thinks is right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is really the first time with these two, with actual dialogue, and I did that intentionally. I felt I needed to set out the differences in my AU as best as possible. Also it is here that I give an explanation of soulmates.

A day or so later, and Phil stood in one of the conference rooms at Stark Enterprises. He’d come through one door, but there was a second door, where he had seen Pepper disappear to. He liked the red head. She obviously had the spunk to keep up with the difficult to keep track of Stark. Already he could tell he was going to be constantly frustrated by her. She wasn’t someone to follow orders, or give a shit what anyone thought as long as the job got done, and done right. She wasn’t an agent. Antonia Stark was her own enigma. Either way, Phil tried to ignore the pit in his stomach. He knew they were soulmates, but he wasn’t sure that Toni had noticed anything at all. She seemed… well busy was a nice way to put it, saving the world and all. He’d thought they’d have gotten her to one of the local hospitals here in LA, but it seemed that Toni had refused any public help and had gone to her personal physician, who had refused to tell him or any SHIELD agent anything, though if her ability to walk upright was any indication she probably only had some scratches and bruises or broken ribs. Not much more. 

Phil was snapped out of his reviery by the doors infront of him opening. He hadn’t noticed that he’d gotten up from the chair to pace, but here he was. HIs blue eyes snapped to Pepper’s face, who was smiling. 

“Agent Coulson!”

The red head’s smile was genuine, and he walked forward, smiling back as he came around the door. To his left sat Toni, eyeing the news paper, so he couldn’t see her head, but her black suit looked good, as well as the soft white blouse. It was obvious she was going for businesswoman, not “Ironman” as they had started calling her. Pepper walked over to her as she started to lower the paper, forcing the darker woman to look up. 

“You know, I like the name, Ironman. I mean it’s more of a titanium alloy than iron, but it has a ring to it.”

“Of course Toni. Agent Co-”

Toni looked away from her friend who was trying to touch up her makeup around a scab near her hair line. Toni was half-way out of her seat her hand coming up to shake his when their eyes met. 

The world stopped. 

The bond between soulmates happen in a few ways. The first time they touch, which is most typical. That is when someone has a mark that shows they have a soulmate (as well as the lovely timer). For the longest time it was thought that only those with marks could possibly have soulmates. Then, in the fifties, it became clear that those who said that, even if they didn’t have a mark, they still had a soulmate, the government tried to find out what that meant, and a brilliant scientist found that you could use pigments in the person’s own skin to count down that kind of thing. That is the second way, really, just using the timers. Often there was no need for anything else, but every once in a while, there was something called, rather dully, “The Meeting of Souls”. The first time two people’s eyes met created the soulmate bond. This was one of those moments. 

Phil got lost in her deep brown eyes, feeling that feeling that he’d last associated with his mother, happiness and home. It had been a long time, but he remembered that, and this was better somehow. He’d never known how lonely he felt, and he was aware how silly that sounded. 

For Toni it hit home harder. She’d never really felt fully at home, or safe. Sure she had Jarvis, and Peggy, but they couldn’t supplement her mother and father, who had never given her what she’d needed. Pepper was like her sister, and there was no way Happy wasn’t her big brother, or Jarvis a sort of arrogant son, but still. She’d never felt this way, and it brought tears to her eyes. A second later she was wrapped in his arms, with a gentle kiss on her lips. She tried to return it through the tears. 

Happy watched from across the room, before glancing at Pepper. THe two of them moved out of the room to give them a moment, though Pepper had an eye on the time. Toni managed to stop crying fairly quickly, not used to being overwhelmed by her feelings, always having a pretty good control over them. She looked up at him, sniffling as she tried to understand, then glanced at her wrist. She hadn’t really given it much thought since she’d come back from Afghanistan months ago. 

“We met at my birthday.”

Her tone was a bit contrite as she remembered ignoring him and focusing on the blue clad Pepper, and the insistent blonde who’d wanted her attention about Afghanistan. It had been obvious for Toni that the woman had been hoping for more than an ‘experimental moment’ in bed, but Toni hadn’t given the woman more thought than the fact that they’d had good sex before she’d gone to Afghanistan, and the woman had gotten her spread on Toni herself. That was about the only thing she’d noticed. 

“We did. You ignored me.”

He smiled to soften the accusation, but she still blushed and looked away. 

“I was ah… busy. I was working on Mark II.”

That was true. And she was trying to figure out why it felt like Obadiah had tried to ice her out of her own company. Her focus had been way outside the realm of romance and love. 

“It’s a fault.”

Toni added easily, knowing he’d be surprised by that admission. The face Toni gave to everyone was a brash, arrogant, if coy, sexy businesswoman who was shrewd in her deals, and very patriotic. Nothing got through that playgirl fasad. She was more than what she seemed. She had learned from her aunt that sometimes the world wanted to think you were a bitch, and it was better to just give them what they wanted, it usually worked out in your favor anyways. 

A cough from the door brought the end to the discussion even if Toni did see the surprise in Phil’s face. She turned her attention to Pepper, and nodded. 

“Make up?”

“Fine. You look great.”

Toni smiled as Happy walked back in, stopping behind her. That reminded him of the reason he was there. 

“I have a statement for you. ‘Ironman’ is a body guard, you were on a boat partying last night. 50 people will swear to it.”

Phil saw the annoyance as Toni took the outheld cards and flipped through them. She nodded. Right. He hoped she’d follow the script. SHIELD was hoping to use her as an asset. He had a stake in it, though he wasn’t going to say that allowed. 

It was an hour later, though it seemed longer when Toni stepped up to the podium, looking the ever beautiful and stunning Stark CEO. To those who had known Howard, they recognized the same charisma, and arrogance that she oozed. She smiled at the blonde in the front row, and held up her hands to stall any questions. Then she started to read the cards, and Phil relaxed. 

Then she went off script. 

“You know what, no. I can’t… I gotta tell you all the truth here.”

Her gaze locked on the blonde who had a smug smirk, and smiled a little mischievous smile. Phil saw it a second before he realized what she was about to do. He’d never had anyone outright refuse to do what he asked, but it seemed he was going to get a lesson in how one deals with a soulmate, and a Stark. She didn’t look at him though, but he knew who that smile was for, and actually glared at her as she pronounced something that had the entire room erupt in sound.

“I am Ironman.”


	4. Greif Tinged Moments

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nick Fury visits, and Phil almost breaks JARVIS. Toni and Co. make a trip to Burger King, and Toni stashes food. Phil slowly starts to realize who Toni finds the most important to her, and maybe there's more to her than just the face she shows the media.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is long, and a bit rambly. Still feeling out these characters. I'm hoping to get more out of them soon. I like them, really. Thanks for the Kudo's guys!

Toni knew she was going to cause issues with her proclamation, but she was a bit surprised to not see Phil anywhere when she got done answering questions. Rhodey was with her though, and Pepper explained that he’d gotten a call not two minutes after her announcement. He’d had to leave. Toni took it easily, and decided a visit to burger king was a good idea. 

“Toni, who was that guy?”

Toni blinked as Rhodey’s voice caught her attention, and she focused on him, as he, Pepper, Happy and Herself drove to a burger king. She sat in the back with Rhodey, as she watched Pepper quietly talking on the phone, probably with PR. Toni knew what she’d done, and she was ok with the consequences. Mostly. She wondered if what she’d done had actually upset Phil. Probably. She had no way of knowing. 

“Er… So, he’s my soulmate.”

She blurt it out quickly and it took Rhodey a few seconds to figure it out. He blinked at her, and then did his best to hold in a laugh. The daggers glared at him didn’t stop him, and that was one of the reasons he was her friend. He wasn’t afraid of her, her money, or the fact that she was a bit of a spoiled brat. She’d grown up knowing how much money she had, and what she could do with that money. Even now, after shutting down a good portion of Stark Industries, she was making billions. That was partially because she was shifting everything into clean energy. No one had lost their jobs. She’d made sure of that. Clean energy, and more peace based work. Genetics, anything really, that could help better the human race. That was her plan, though it had to be built slowly. 

“That explains the pissed off look he gave you when you announced who you are. You know you’re crazy right?”

She gave her best friend a huge grin as they arrived at the burger king and she jumped out, her heels clacking on the asphalt as she lead the way indoors, ignoring the complete silence as she walked to the back of the line, waiting, as everything went back to normal. She ignored the sound of the only TV blaring the news about her. Ironman. Some were trying to figure out if it was a good idea to switch it to Ironmaiden, or Ironwoman, but personally, Toni liked Ironman. It suited the suit. It was a mixture of her and JARVIS. He was her guidance system, her chooser of who dies and lives. She pulled the trigger, she flew, but it was a joint effort. They got through the line quickly, though Toni refused to give autographs, and then they were back in the car, eating, chatting, and again, Rhodey was attempting to convince her to make him a suit. She shook her head. 

“No Rhodey. I can’t just go making suits willy-nilly. I mean seriously? Plus, what would they call you?”

She was teasing as she ate her burger, and the fries, and then attempted to steal some of Rhodey’s fries and one of his chicken nuggets. 

“I don’t know. Maybe… hm…”

The pause wasn’t long before Rhodey had come up with an idea. 

“War Machine.”

Toni laughed, but she nodded, liking the ring of it, and even if she was saying no, she was thinking of how to make a suit that would work for Rhodey. It would have to work in the Air Force. But it wasn’t long before they had to drop Rhodey off, and then Happy dropped her off, and she walked inside, frowning a bit, something seemed off. She called out to JARVIS and he started to respond and then shut down. She went on high alert at that moment. Only if you were in her house could you shut down JARVIS, and even then, it took a hacker on her level to do it. He had his own firewalls, that he constantly changed, upgraded and shifted around. She’d given him a basic one, and let him do what he wanted with it. She had a key to check him over if needed, but for the most part her AI butler did his own maintenance. 

The person standing at her window was tall, and black, and bald. When he turned around, he had an eye patch and a love affair with leather. 

“Do you think you’re the only superhero around?”

Toni blinked as the man rounded on her. She hadn’t thought about it, but no. She’d grown up hearing all about the ‘brilliant, amazing, patriotic’ hero that was Captain America, or “Steve” as her dad called him. Not that anyone else called him that. It was Rogers, Captain Rogers, or Steven, if she was talking to Peggy. 

“Why?”

The conversation was no in her favor, but she didn’t let it bother her, as the man told her who he was, and who he was the Director off. So this was who Phil had probably had to report to. She eyed the man before her, showing her uncaring attitude. She could see the man was annoyed by her lack of fear, and the obvious annoyance that he was in her house. She could call the cops, and he’d be in trouble, but she didn’t, for the moment. She let him talk. SHIELD. They were a secret part of the government that did it’s best to keep super’s secret, keep superheros from being in the spotlight, or even from hurting others, if needed. They collected artifacts, found bad guys, and put them down before they got really bad, so on and so forth. 

He’d decided that he’d needed help. He asked her if she recognized a name, Bruce Banner. No, but that didn’t mean much. What was needed was her help in recruiting him. If she wanted to help with SHIELD, that was. She could be a part of something bigger. She told him, easily, to fuck off, but it seemed that Phil was there. She actually glared at him as he came into the room, his hands in a placating position up a bit, and palms towards the two of them. 

“Toni, we need your help. You’re a hero, everyone knows it. He won’t come with us.”

Toni snorted annoyed, and pulled off her jacket, tossing it on a couch, annoyed at the darkness, and flicked off the black pumps that dropped her six inches, making her seem much smaller. 

“Maybe he has good reason to not want to join. Hell, I don’t. I don’t like being told where I’m going to be, or what I’m going to be doing.”

Phil frowned at the back of her head as she walked towards her kitchen, silently, the heels of her feet not touching the floor as Peggy had taught her. She’d snuck many a snack from Jarvis this way. She turned to the bar however and poured herself a drink. Suddenly one of her TV’s lit up with a graphic image of a huge green thing beating the literal shit out of a tank. She blinked as the drink stilled near her mouth. Well that was new. She quickly downed the whiskey, before nodding. 

“Fine. I’ll do it.”

Phil looked a bit confused. She was going to have to fly back to New York, which probably wasn’t a bad thing, she had some stuff she wanted to buy and do. She put the glass down. 

“On my own time however. I can’t just leave tonight. I need two days. Tomorrow I’ll fly back to New York.”

She glared at both SHIELD agents, though one was the Director. 

“Now I’d like my house and my butler back. Now.”

There was no way to argue with that as she moved off to her kitchen, still walking quietly, and she breathed a quiet sigh of relief as JARVIS came back online, turning on lights and apologizing. He was calling her Ma’am. That meant they were still there, but she had a level of protection. In private, he called her Sir. It had been an accident, but she’d let him keep it, though it had been his decision to call her Ma’am in public, or when guests were around. Then again, they didn’t think he was as… cognizant as she knew he was. Pepper, Happy and Rhodey were about the only one’s who knew. 

“I’m sorry about having to shut him down.”

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. 

“It’s like knocking a human out, after giving them a roofie and pumping them with morphine. I’m going to have to spend hours going through his code and making sure he’s not damaged.”

“I’m not, Ma’am, I just ran a diagnostic. I am running at 99.3765% of my normal operating power.” 

The voice was soothing to her but she frowned turning towards a screen and hitting a few buttons, thinking as she tried to figure out why he wasn’t running at 100%. Phil stood quietly in the doorway watching her as she did her own quick diagnostic. 

“Purge that program, JARVIS. I don’t care if they’ve tried to hardwire it in, get rid of it, I’ll fix any pieces later.”

That made Phil flinch. She finally glared at him. 

“Don’t try to control him like that ever again. He’d have let you in if you’d have asked nicely. He’s not just some program.”

“He wouldn’t let us inside.”

“Then you should have waited. I don’t give a shit who Nick “All-Father” Fury thinks he is, my home, my family are not his to toy with, even if it is about saving the country, or the world.”

She was just glad he was gone. 

“Ma’am? I managed to sever the sleeper program with no extra damage to myself. I am checking all ports now to be sure there is nothing hidden or left. Shall I close all backdoors as well?”  
“Do it.”

She had other things she wanted him to do with that program, but that would be later, much later. She had a different situation to deal with. Of course it was going to be hellishly hard to fix him later, but at the moment, she wasn’t going to worry about it. Protecting JARVIS was her main concern. 

“WHy are you still here? Don’t you have some bootlicking to do?”

Her tone was callous, and she regretted saying it, but at the same time, he’d violated her home. He’d let Fury violate her home. Phil watched her, as she found something in her pantry that had a silver packaging. His mouth opened a bit as she ripped off the top, dropped it into a trash hole in her island, and opened it up to see dried strawberries. She pulled some out and started to eat them, hoping to calm herself down. 

He stepped into the kitchen fully as he watched her. She refused to look at him, glaring, instead, at the silver bag. She had just come from burger king but she really couldn’t think of what else to do. She wanted to return to her lab, and spend hours figuring out what the hell was wrong with JARVIS, but that was going to have to wait a day or so, so that she could get to NYC, find one Bruce Banner, and convince him to join the group that had just violated her own home, and her personal possessions. 

 

“I’m sorry.”

Toni hadn’t heard that often, to tell you the truth. She never wanted to hear ‘I’m Sorry’, unless you meant it. Pepper had learned quickly to just give Toni the rundown of what ever it was, and then tell her how she was going to fix it, or if it was already fixed, never start with “I’m Sorry” was a motto that had trickled down into the company. Her mother had tried to constantly guilt Toni with “I’m sorry you’re not more of a girl” or “I’m sorry you can’t appreciate this dress like I do”. The guilt had been bad. Really bad. She’d hated it, and it had just been a thing. Rhodey never apologize to her. Happy didn’t either. She looked up at Phil, and he looked upset. 

“I don’t like people barging into my home uninvited. During a party, sure! That’s what a party is all about, but when there's nothing going on? I mean, come on, a girl has to have some privacy.”

She hadn’t outright said it, but she relaxed her posture, and did her best to not look as pissed as she still felt. He smiled a little at her, and she found herself responding. She held out the bag to him, and he took one dried sliced strawberry. 

“This actually tastes good. Where did you get those? I swear I’ve never seen them.”

Toni smiled at his words and continued to eat the dried strawberries. 

“Its just dried fruit. Peggy had them when I was a kid. I have them everywhere, not just in here. Pepper’s the one who stashes them in the lab so I don’t completely forget to eat.”

Some trust had to be rebuilt, but she was willing to give him some time on it. After all, he was human, and following orders, though if she remembered correctly, the Nazi’s were as well. She watched him, her face rather neutral as she tried to decide what to do next. 

“I need to call Pepper, set up a flight to New York. And then I need to go figure out if I can salvage the suit. You can come if you want.”

She walked past him, hand brushing his before moving back out into the main living area, grabbing her phone and easily calling Pepper. Her friend was quick to figure out this was more than just a whim, but complied, letting Toni know the flight would be leaving just before noon. Good. She’d arrive in NYC at lunch. Best time to eat there, in her opinion. She was, technically, going home. Or at least close to it. She’d been born on Long Island, though her accent had flattened out from living in Malibu for so long, and traveling the world. It was still there, but not as heavily as it had been for her father or mother. She loved the west coast, with it’s beautiful white sand beaches, and much calmer serf. When she was done, she noticed that Phil had his jacket off. 

“You know, that is probably the most boring suit I’ve ever seen, and I work with Happy every day.”

The tone was teasing though as she lead the way down to her lab, which also happened to be her garage. She still ignored the broken car from when she fell through the roof, though she’d have to replace it soon. She opened the door easily, flicking the numbers with practiced efficiency. She thought, idly, that she’d have to change the code again. Dummy was excited to see her and rolled forward, she tapped his head as she passed, heading for her huge desk with way too many monitors. It was running diagnostics, though of what, only she knew. It was the code that SHIELD had left behind. JARVIS had figured it out what she’d wanted easily. 

“Sir, I believe we can implement this in the next suit. The old one is not fixable.”

Toni had no idea how JARVIS had figured out that Phil was safe, but he was smart. She looked at the screen as he showed her a clip from the suit’s recording softwear as she fought Stane. She nodded. 

“Are you sure the Mack III won’t fly again?”

She looked at the badly beaten up suit. It looked how she felt. She was sore, tired, and had at least two broken ribs. Not that it mattered much, she’d stopped the megalomaniac. To bad it had been her business partner. To bad it had been someone very close to her. Betrayal was something she wasn’t used to, but was getting there. 

“You want to try?”

Phil stared at the gold, silver and red pile of metal on two legs. It looked like hell, and he didn’t want her anywhere near it. Obviously he wasn’t going to get a say, because she walked over to it, and touched it as it opened up, obviously JARVIS knew what she wanted. She smiled. 

“No, Sir. It won’t fly. You’ve said you want something sleaker, didn’t you Sir?”

“Why does he call you that?”

“I did, but still. This one somehow survived Stane’s monster version. Why did he feel the need to put rockets on it? How do you control it? JARVIS calls me that, because he finds it entertaining. I told you, shutting him down was like knocking out a human.”

With that she moved to her chair and sat down, cracking her knuckles. 

“Alright, bud, let’s run diagnostics. I want to know everything the Monster could do. I want to know what is, and isn’t compatible. I also want you to make sure the Mock III’s fully fixed up. It might not fly again, but I’d like to keep it. Let’s see what other things we can do with this design.”

Normally Toni had authority. She was, after all, the CEO of Stark Industries. Her tone now was conversationally authoritative. She was speaking to a partner, a friend, on what they needed to do. 

“And Finally, pull up your coding. I want to check it over.”

“Yes sir!”

With that things got quiet for a moment, as Phil watched two of her screens become dedicated to her use, and the rest had other things running on them, some video, some more coding, but he recognized some of it. That was the coding he’d had to attatch his own code to, to shut JARVIS down. He moved closer and leaned over her shoulder. 

“That. That’s not his.”

He pointed at one peice of code on the screen, recognizing one of the computer squint’s he’d worked with’s signature. She glanced at him and quickly set about finding everything that had to do with that, and worked through getting rid of it, though she wasn’t deleting it, she was cutting it off, and saving it. 

“Your going to use the code.”

Toni smiled a little and looked up at him with the most innocent look on her face. 

“Of course! I have to use the virus to make sure the virus never affects him again!”

Phil nodded. Right, she wasn’t going to let that go. Not that he blamed her. She motioned to another chair in the room. 

“Pull that up. You put it here, you can help me clean it out. Think of it as surgery.”

With that, they spent a good four hours finding everything SHIELD had tried to put in, and actually enjoyed it, though Phil felt lost most of the time. It wasn’t the tech, it was more, the complexity of her AI. Every once in awhile they’d be stopped by JARVIS with new information about Stane’s suit, or the Mock III, but for the most part they were focused on cleaning JARVIS up. Toni had been about to start repairing the damage, when Pepper came in, making both of their head’s pop up in surprise. 

“I see you are still here. Good. Toni, as you are going to New York, apparently the Late Night Show want’s to have an interview. As does every major network. Are you doing any of them, or should I find a polite way to tell them to….”

“I’ll do the Late Night one. Nothing else. Have PR figure out a statement, and I’ll say it. I don’t want to be in New York that long. I mean look at this place.”

It was a mess from Toni having to use the old arc reactor, the knocked down things, the broken car. She had to revamp and rebuild. She was excited really. There was a lot she could do. 

“Coulson, I was hoping you could stick around a little longer. I got an alert that JARVIS had been deactivated, and I wanted to clarify as to who it was.”

Toni smirked, as her soulmate gave her an annoyed look. Pepper caught the look and sighed. 

“Toni I won’t be getting in the middle of any arguments you two have. Now, I need to take Miss Stark and get her itinerary figured out, and you can’t stay down you, you don’t have authorization.”

With that, Pepper marched them upstairs, and Toni flopped on the couch, as Pepper settled in her normal spot in a comfortable chair. Phil looked around a second and sat down next to Toni. 

“Ah…”

“He can stay Pep. It’s not like he’s not gonna find out anyways. We are going to New York because he needs me to recruit another superhero. Now come on. How much stuff do I need to pack into two days?”

The conversation was boring, for everyone, though Pepper found it important, and Toni felt she owed her friend the attention. She had saved Toni’s life after all. It took a few more hours to get through all of it, with Toni nixing things, and Pepper finding more things to add. It was Phil who decided to order Pizza, realizing neither of them was going to be coming out of it anytime soon. He was coming to realize that Pepper was here, not as Toni’s PA, but as her friend. Obviously she knew something he didn’t, and when Toni went to pay for the Pizza he asked her. 

“What is wrong? She seems fine, but…”

“Toni’s had a stressful few days, this is familiar. Happy’s here too, though not as obtrusive. Rhodey plans on coming later tonight. I’m just hoping to keep her on track over the next few days, until this all blows over. My phone is on silent because if it wasn’t, I’d be constantly fending off the news reporters and such. As it is, I had to tell PR to not forward any calls to me unless they were important.”

Phil nodded, and then Toni was back, Happy in tow, with about five pizza’s. Toni pulled out a Pizza Supreme and started in on it, folding it in half to take a bite and continuing to argue with Pepper, while sitting rather close to Phil. He liked that, though didn’t say anything, just leaving himself in a relaxed position. The night’s tempo changed a bit when Rhodey arrived, out of uniform, in his leather jacket. The jokes started, and Phil realized that Toni was letting him see her family. And weather anyone but him noticed, but they were leaving an open area in the circle. He had no doubt Stane had sat there often, watching the younger people joke, eat pizza, and be assholes to one another, in a friendly way. They were honoring the man they remembered, even as they reviled what he’d become, or had finally shown himself to be. Phil watched Toni as she teased her friends, and smiled, though it was different from the smile’s he’d seen on videos of her parties, or on the face of the four year old he remembered from years ago. This was tempered with fear, with grief. No one was saying it, but they were here because they grieved, because being alone was to scary, to painful. They’d never admit it, and probably didn’t realize it, but he had no doubt, none of them would leave this house that night. 

They didn’t. Happy had a spare room, as did Pepper and Rhodey, and Toni was half asleep when they all stopped talking, though it was Phil and Rhodey who talked the longest, sharing their different stories of their military careers (though Phil’s was short), and similar backgrounds. He managed to get her more awake, though she refused to let go of his hand as she walked to her bedroom. Something might of happened, if she hadn’t fallen asleep as soon as her head had hit the pillow. Phil had been sitting on the bed, and watched her for a while, noting how much younger she looked in sleep, before settling down next to her, knowing he was going to have to get a new suit later. Sleep seemed like a good idea after the kind of last two days he’d had. He fell asleep with her hand in his, feeling, for the first time in a long time, like he was home.


	5. Unexpected Moments

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Toni has an interview, and Phil almost knocks out Happy. Oh and some cute fluff. Watching TV at a hotel could be romantic right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am still feeling these two out. I'm enjoying them though. I'm open to constructive criticism, by the way, so don't feel shy about telling me if I'm crap. Also, if you're here for the sex, it doesn't happen for a while. I will write it and write a big warning about it, but for the moment I want to build their relationship.

The bright lights, the caked on makeup, the uncomfortable chair that looked comfortable. An old white man who had a patented smile. It had to be the Late Night Show. She’d walked on screen to screams. Her black suit, with white blouse, and hair perfectly coiffed only made her look elegant. The bright red lipstick was an odd choice. Not because of the stage, but because the style was going darker. The lipstick though was a nod to her aunt, who she knew would be watching, even if she was getting on in her age. It didn’t much matter to Toni Stark. She sat and laughed at the terrible jokes, and did her best to talk about anything but being Ironman. 

“So you know we have to talk about the latest development.”

For a second Toni wondered if she looked pregnant. That was the worse way to start this part of the segment. She smiled. 

“What lastest development? You mean we aren’t here to talk about my amazing hair?”

She winked at the camera, before giving her full attention back to the host. The man laughed off his annoyance, but she wasn’t going to make this easy. 

“Well. You announced your Ironman. I’ve gotta ask, why no…”

He motioned at his own chest, and she gave him a blank stare for a second before smiling. 

“Oh! I thought it was common sense! My suit is armor, at its most base sense. Armor that has breasts, like you see in comics, just isn’t practical, and can even be dangerous for the wearer, forcing the metal into the woman’s chest at the point where the two breasts meet. So I decided a flat chest would work much better. We wouldn’t want Ironman to die from her own armor now would we?”

Her smile was an shit-eating grin. The man had asked, and she wasn’t afraid to use the terms needed to explain what she wanted. She kept up the smile as the man tried to change the topic. 

“So you are keeping the name Ironman?”

Toni had been hoping for this question. She knew that people wanted to change her title, but she’d grown attached to Ironman, and it was going to stay. 

“Yes of course. Ironman is a perfect name, though technically the suit is made of a titanium allo-”

“Of course, and what a lovely name it is. Now the elephant in the room. Have you really stopped all arms productions for Stark Industries?”

Now Toni got serious, and leaned forward, putting a hand on the desk as if she was telling the man before her a big secret. 

“Yeah. My weapons were causing our own men and women on the ground pain, and death, and I already have enough blood on my hands. I’d rather put my resources into bettering this country, and the world. Clean energy, everyone, that’s where Stark Industries is moving, clean energy.”

The crowed seemed to love that, and the conversation turned, shortly to her plans, which she kept vage, and then she was off. Pepper was there, grinning at her. 

“That went well.”

“Yeah, except for the sexist pig who thinks my suit needs boobs. As if I’d be able to with this.”

Toni tapped the thing in her chest as she walked with her friend to their car, rather grateful she wasn’t going to have to do that again for a while. She slipped off her heels before they even arrived at her hotel. She’d slipped into her sneakers and got out of the car with an ease that belied how much pain her feet were in. She smiled at the group of paparazzi that were at the doorway to the hotel, flashing a quick peace sign and giving them a quick pose before heading inside. She was greeted with excited, and nervous people. The woman smiled at them, but she kept her aviator’s on. She didn’t care how they made her look. She liked them, she liked the confidence they portrayed for her. She stepped into the elevator and waited as her bodyguard and personal assistant stepped inside. Calling them was not her choice, but really, how could you explain to anyone that she viewed these two people as family?

The elevator ride was blissfully quiet as everyone was lost in their own worlds. Happy was thinking about the redhead on the other side of Toni. Pepper’s mind was on the comments and such she was going to have to deal with once people were done with the Late Night show, and what everyone was going to think about her when she was so snippy. Then again, she’d been dealing with a lot of fallout since she’d announced who she was, so Pepper figured it was Toni’s fault. Toni was dwelling on the fact that people were way to focused on her boobs.

The hallway that they opened to was quiet, and empty, thankfully. Toni lead the way to her room, but paused as she realized her door was partially ajar. Happy frowned and pushed her aside to step inside, hand on his gun. It came up as he entered. A thump had both women squeaking a bit, and trying to look inside. 

“Coulson, what the hell!”

Toni heard Happy’s annoyed, in pain voice. She opened the door to see Coulson holding a gun on Happy. Not ‘a’ gun, but Happy’s gun. Toni glared at the two of them, and held out her hand as she walked forward, one hand holding onto her heels, the other out to Phil. 

“Can I have that please? What the hell are you doing here?”

Phil put the gun on safety and deftly handed it to Toni, who privately thought it was sexy, but kept that to herself, one eyebrow arched as she looked at him over her glasses. 

“Didn’t know who it was.”

Toni took the gun, and then held it out to her bodyguard as she glared daggers at Phil, who was helping Happy up. The two men looked at one another for a moment, with Happy being the taller, and then Phil focused on Toni. He smiled at her, though her expression didn’t change. It was oddly reminiscent of Director Carter. Well former director anyways. He held out his arms towards her as she crossed her arms, still glaring at him. 

“No hug? I came to see how you were doing, and how the visit with Banner went?”

Toni sighed, walking past him to put her shoes down, and get her sneakers off. She was going to ignore him until he apologized to Happy. She had a policy of no ‘I’m sorry’s” unless really warranted. In her opinion this was one. He gave Pepper a confused look, but it was Happy who snorted, and shook his head, rubbing his neck, and glancing down at his own shoes then back to Phil. The older man stared for a second, then nodded. 

“Didn’t mean to scare you, Pepper. I didn’t expect you back until a little later. That was a rather brutal interview.”

He talked to Pepper, but he could see the mirth in the pretty woman’s face as she watched Toni behind him. She was sticking her tongue out at him, but by the time he’d turned around she was turning on the TV with the remote and tucking her feet under her, face perfectly composed. 

Phil watched her a second as the other two moved to relax, Pepper pulling off her own shoes, and walking to a door near the TV that lead to the second suit that she’d booked for herself and Happy. Toni needed way more space than any normal person, but what could you expect. Pepper, if anything, was one of the things that grounded the woman sitting on the couch. Pepper had grown up poor. She’d grown up with siblings. She’d spent time on the wrong side of the law. She’d taught Toni that the normal person didn’t get to buy whatever they wanted, or even eat however they wanted. When they’d talked about that, Toni had promptly made Pepper one of the highest paid Stark Industries employees. Pepper wanted for nothing, and yet there were times, when she wondered if Toni realized that she had to big of a heart for her own good. 

Happy followed, rubbing his neck as he put his gun back, wondering if Toni had any idea what she was doing. He often thought that, just grateful that the suit didn’t require him to come along. He was not a tactical master. She seemed to be, but it could be that her AI was the only thing that was good at it. He had no real idea. 

“It was. Why is everyone focused on the fact that the suit doesn't have boobs?”

Toni was not one to keep her thoughts to herself, and she turned her attention to Phil, who went to sit down next to her. The TV was showing just some inane show about a guy who swore up and down he wasn’t autistic “My mother had me tested”, and his three other guy friends all brilliant, but Toni frowned eyeing the TV as Phil crossed his legs waiting for her to continue. 

“Banner doesn’t want to join. It’s not like I can force him to do anything.”

She waited for the anger, or annoyance, but was surprised when Phil seemed to be expecting her response. That was new. Even Stane would have been angry if she couldn’t get something done, probably because that was rare. Toni made it her job to get things done. 

“Truthfully, you speaking to him was a shot in the dark. We were hoping a fellow scientist and superhero would help sway him.”

Toni watched him from her spot on the edge of the couch. She still wasn’t sure how to act around him. Part of her wanted to hold his hand and never let go, but another told her to be careful, to test the waters, and to not go barging in. There was a reason she’d never had a steady romantic relationship. She didn’t want to deal with the drama, or the pain. She couldn’t do it. Not after watching her parents. Her father had never abused her mother, and in fact they seemed like a good couple, but she’d always felt that something was false. It had always seemed, to the too smart Toni, that Howard blamed Maria for Toni not being a boy. She shrugged at Phil. 

“Yeah, but seriously, did you think I would be able to sway him? A pretty face will do miracles, but he almost killed his girl. Even I get wanting to run away sometimes.”

Phil turned his head a little, watching her as she got up, moving to the window to look down at the view of New York City at night. She’d been born here. This was technically her city. Sure she loved Malibu, and would do everything to stick around there, she still loved this city. The beauty and grit. The mixture of highbrow and lowbrow, mixed together, a street apart. She’d explored a few of them as a teen. College could only hold her attention for so long. Her memory, her ability to learn and retain meant that sometimes, she understood, better than the teacher, what the lesson was that day. For the most part, her teachers didn’t understand her partying ways. She was brilliant in class, always asking questions, if terribly sarcastic, she had respect for those who respected her. 

Phil followed her, moving quietly to stand beside her, trying to figure out what she was thinking about. He was quickly coming to understand that Toni was more than just the public figure who partied at every chance, and spent half of her time making brilliant inventions. He reached out and touched her arm, trailing his finger down her arm. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, but he was focused on the view. She squeezed his hand when they met, but stayed put, not giving or taking anymore. Going fast wasn’t something she wanted to do. She had a lot of things to worry about, and until now her life had been her whole focus. Doing what she wanted, with nothing to tie her down, was something rather amazing. 

“So, now that the interview is over, what are your plans?”

His voice dragged her out of her reverie. She actually looked up at him, as he continued to stare out at the lights, and the sudden blackness that was the water. She smiled a little. 

“Well I’m to wired to sleep. Probably won’t sleep for a couple of days, really. I need to buy a property or two, check on the operations here, meet some friends, and I believe there was a party I was invited to, though it’s not the kind I normally enjoy. Pepper says I should go, but I swear, anything that forces me to wear a formal dress sucks.”

Halfway through he’d turned to watch her as she spoke, she returned his gaze easily. Toni was not one who was easily intimidated. Somewhere along the lines she’d put her glasses on a table. She smiled at him again. 

“What are your plans, Agent Coulson? Don’t you have a job to do?”

“I do have free time.”

“Which I assume you spend planning your next mission.”

The slight blush and quick glance back out at the skyline made her laugh. So he wasn’t infallible. Oh if anyone knew who her soulmate was, they’d be confused. Of course, she’d never made it public about when she was supposed to meet her soulmate, and always made sure to cover up her timer. She had one that was embedded into her skin. She knew that now that they’d met, he’d get his removed, and he had, but she just used makeup to cover hers, and always had. 

“I could go with you, to this party. I have a few days off.”

Toni wondered if he’d asked for them, or if someone had realized that he had something else to do. She guessed Fury knew. There was no way that man didn’t know. The bastard. She disliked the Odin wannabe, but she respected him to. Not feared. There wasn’t a whole lot that could scare Toni Stark. Fearless was a description she was often given. And slut. That was a fun one. She wore it with pride. That one and Bitch, because she refused to have anything more than a short fling. Of course, that was all changing. 

“You sure? It’s mostly diplomats and government bureaucrats who want to convince me to continue making weapons. I have it from Rhodey that I’m the most talked about person in the government right now. It’s not going to be a fun night, but I can’t exactly refuse, the president himself has asked I attend.”

Phil nodded, pulling her back to the couch, kicking off his shoes as she did so. She notied he had black socks with white lines on them. She sank down next to him, finding it rather odd who easy it was to lean against him, with his arm around her. 

“I would be willing to go. As long as no one asks any questions.”

“Oh they will. They always do. I’ll just say you are a business associate.”

The pause was long, before he responded. 

“You don’t want to put me in the spotlight, do you?”

“No. I don’t. I promised myself, when I was ten, that I would never put my soulmate in the same spotlight I’m in. Same for any kids I have. I’m perfectly willing to “ruin” my own reputation, but you have a really important job, with a secret agency. I can afford to be public. Believe me, I know how to keep things under wraps, even if it doesn’t seem like it.”

Her smile up at him won him over on that. He personally, had been waiting so long for her, that he wanted to shout it from the roof tops, but oddly, her caution was sweet. It was moments like these that made him realize that she really was more than the public face that she showed. 

“So what do we do now?”

Toni glanced at the TV. 

“Well there’s TV. We could always just watch TV. It’s that or watch me work on a computer for six hours while I figure out the game plan for the next two days.”

“TV it is.”

He grabbed the remote and switched the channel, finding a documentary about Lions. Toni had made a very girly sound at the image of the cute cub, and he’d stopped on it. She started to play with his hand as she leaned against him, her feet on the couch, while she watched the show. He spent most of that night watching her, until she started to nod off, which was his plan the whole time. This time he lead her to bed, though she managed to slip into the bathroom to change into the most comfortable PJ’s he’d seen in awhile, just guy sweatpants (blue) and a huge gray MIT shirt, before she curled up on the bed. He kissed her forehead before going to brush his teeth and changing into his own PJs and slipped into the bed. He was in no hurry for anything in particular, and as she was asleep by the time he got there, he just smiled and kissed her forhead again, before letting himself drift off.


	6. The Masked Ball

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A masked ball, for Halloween. Toni and Phil flirt, and possibly do more. WARNING: Sex happens. I did say I'd warn you!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about taking so long on this one, I just have had a lot going on in my life, but I felt I should at least get this one out! I hope you guys enjoy it. There will be more fluff and stuff later, but I am thinking the next few chapters will be a bit heavy. Enjoy them!

Orange, Black, and creepy things abounded as Toni debated what kind of party she was going to throw. She’d been Ironman for a few month’s now, and people had finally noticed that her timer had, well, timed out. She’d managed to dodge the questions, or outright tell people to shut the hell up about it. That wasn’t what her life was about. It never would be. She had better shit to do than answer questions about who she was or wasn’t having sex with. Truthfully, it was no one. Phil had been busy doing SHIELD stuff, and she’d been busy doing superhero stuff. Privatizing World Peace, as she was calling it. The few times they’d managed to get time together, either she’d fallen asleep on his lap, or he’d fallen asleep on her couch, or her bed. Or she a random couch in a hotel. Not a whole lot of relationship building. Both of them had been focused elsewhere Her ability to turn the company to a massive ‘better the world’ company, and still manage to make billions was impressive, within itself, and with the help of Pepper, it was running smoothly. He was working with other agents, to do what they could to stop the tide of bad guys.

Toni, however, couldn’t just give up the party life. She enjoyed the company of others, though she could be (and often was) extremely introverted, and Halloween was her favorite holiday. The costumes, the parties, the fact that it was ‘spooky’ was enthralling to the woman. She’d always liked being someone else. Plus she’d actually had this party on the books for two years. And she’d had her costume picked out for about a year. Death. Or rather, Lady Death. It was more just, because she could, less because of what she’d become. Of course, she had no doubt there would be thirty Ironman’s or some variation, but she didn’t mind. Pepper was planning as going as the Spirit of Autumn. Happy had decided he was going as a body guard, with a very bad beard. She swore the man had no sense of humor, though Pepper seemed to think so. Rhodey was going as Captain America. Why, Toni had no idea. He knew that she disliked most things Cap, but it seemed, she was overruled. 

The party was the next day, and Toni had taken way more interest in it than Pepper was used to. Then again, Toni had been markedly changed since she’d become Ironman. It had seemed that being lost for three months had taught Toni a great deal about herself, and she had inserted herself into what was normally, Pepper’s job. Pepper let Toni plan, and focus on something that wasn’t building her suits, or flying off to demolish some criminal regime. People constantly asked Toni when she was going to settle down, but she either dodged the question, or reminded them that if she’d been a Tony they’d never have asked her that. The hero worship across the country didn’t help with leveling her ego though, and sometimes it drove Pepper crazy. Today was one of those days. She was talking about her entrance to the party. Normally, Toni would just appear, but this time she wanted balloons. And lots of purple confetti. 

“Oh come on Pep! It’ll be cool! You can be there too! And Rhodey, and Happy, of course. It’ll be fun!”

Pepper gave her employer a long look, wondering how she’d become the egotistical billionaire’s friend. Toni grinned at her before laying down on her couch, her feet hanging off the edge of the loveseat. She was not a tall woman, though the heels, and her presence made people think she was a lot taller. She wore dark jeans, an ACDC shirt, and no socks. Her hair was a mess, having woken up hours earlier, and barely dragged a brush through it before pulling it into a ponytail. She watched her friend, wondering what the redhead was going to do. 

“Fine. Balloons, confetti, whatever. Can we please confirm the food? You’ve been avoiding me for weeks on it.”

“But it’s boring.”

“Toni.”

“Fine. Yes. Go with that one. As long as they give us cookies, I’m good.”

Pepper stared at her friend, having gotten used to the glowing circle coming from her chest. Her friend was insane. Of course, a masked ball was not exactly the best idea for a woman who had pissed off plenty of terrorists, and anyone who had bought weapons from Stark Industries. Toni didn’t care though, and she happily spent the rest of the day, decorating her house, with the help of Dummy, JARVIS, herself, Rhodey, Happy, and the small crew of party people Toni had hired. Toni was making sure they were paid well, and Pepper was sure to make sure any ruffled feathers were soothed, as Toni was being particularly abrasive. 

Why Toni felt she had to decorate no one was quite sure, and she didn’t do as well as she’d have liked, but the staff was quick to fix any mistakes she made. She did, however, buy everyone pizza, beer, and give everyone $100 on top of what they were already getting, so no one much minded with the billionair stopped helping and ended up outside on the roof, staring at the city below. She, technically, lived on an island. There was one large road leading from the mainland to her island. Though it was hard to tell. She had her mansion built on a cliff, and the house was huge. It fitted her ego. Which Toni was well aware she had. She stood above the hole that had yet to be fixed as she watched as the world got dark. By the time Rhodey had found her it was fully dark. 

“What’s up, Toni?”

The black man watched her curiously. His dark eyes watched her, a bit warily. Mostly because he wasn’t sure how she was going to respond to anyone trying to get into her business. She tended to try to keep people at bay. 

“Just a lot of change in such a short time. I have to keep reminding the board that not only do I hold the majority in stocks in the company, but that I am the CEO and fully capable without Stane.”

The way she spoke the name it was as if it was poison and she spat it out. She’d come to realize how much of her power had been because Stane had stood behind her. Now she was taking it for herself, and she was fighting. She didn’t mind really, it was her job, after all, and Pepper helped, knowing what to say, and who to push and who to just let watch and wait. Sometimes it felt like Pep did all the work, but Toni had the charisma to get the job done. Though Toni had been dealing with the US Government trying to get her suit. They were trying to demand her suit, and she and Rhodey had argued a bit over it. She refused to hand it over. She even refused to let anyone but her study it. That alone seemed to piss them off more, and she knew that they were going to take her to court, and the beginnings of it had happened, but Stark Industries had bounced back from no longer manufacturing weapons and were turning towards clean energy, and a thousand other things that would better the world. 

“Ah. Sounds hard. Wanna drink?”

Toni hadn’t noticed the beer, but she took one of the open ones and sat down, staring up the sky as she took a few sips, enjoying the silence. Her mind drifted again, and Rhodey didn’t push. The last time they’d argued they’d promised to agree to disagree. That and he knew she was missing the normalcy that came from just being the CEO, not the superhero. He was just there for her. The night ended with the rest of the party up on the roof enjoying whatever pizza was left over and talking about the stars, which it seemed, Happy was actually a lover of. Apparently Toni had sent him down that path years ago, when they’d first met, but she didn’t remember it, though she was touched he had taken her ideas to heart.

The next day dawned gray and cold, a storm had rolled in. Toni thought it was brilliant as she and Pepper spent most of the day getting ready. Toni enjoyed dressing in all black, with a sweeping cloak that was tied to her hands so that if she wanted to move it wouldn’t get in the way. Her hood hid her face, which had been painted white, though her lips were blood red. The black and white skeletal necklace hung just above her breasts (which had also been painted white) and had a big red jewel in it. It was fake, but still, it looked good. Every bit of bare skin (which there was quite a bit of, Toni deciding sexy and scary was a good mix) was painted the same bone white. She even had golden contacts that glowed when the light caught them. The mask covered the around her eyes and a little over her nose, only the glowing contacts visible, and it was a skull, painted with glow-in-the-dark paint. By the time Toni got to the party it had been going for a while. She wasn’t going for drama. She hadn’t planned her entrance, but it couldn’t have been better. 

The storm had hit in full force and the lights flickered a moment before she got to the top of the stairs, and as she started down a flash of lightning hit the ocean outside, trembling the building, she couldn’t help but smile, the black lights only making that a bit creepy as she made her way into the party. People, weather consciously or not, moved out of her way. At least until she asked why there was no party when she remembered ordering a big one. It wasn’t long before she was tipsy, enjoying the flow of the party, and the happy feelings going around. Sure it was spooky, with the weather, and Lady Death herself walking around, but that was the fun of it. Rhodey ended up with a blood red lip stain, as he came over to speak to her. He’d gotten the suit perfectly and she’d just felt the need to mar it a bit. Pepper was stunningly beautiful in gold, silver, and pale ivory. She even had fake leafs, and had a crown made of them. Her mask was a soft orange lacy thing that only covered her eyes. She looked stunning in her much less revealing dress, but seemed, a bit aloof as she came towards Toni, a bit serious. The woman’s face lit up with a smile as she got near though, kissing toni on the cheek, leaving the otherwise terrifying visage with a bit of pale pink lipstick on her cheek. Toni returned the favor, marking her friend with the deep blood red again. Happy stood quietly with the most serious facial expression, though it was a bit marred by the fact that he was wearing one of those glasses, huge nose and mustache things. Pepper started to chat with him, asking him, after a moment to take it off. Happy was offended, and promptly pretended to be someone else, causing everyone around them to laugh as the usually serious body guard was obviously being annoying for one reason only. He coaxed Pepper onto the dance floor. Rhodey was soon accosted by a pretty latino woman dressed as a cat. That left Toni alone at the bar, not that she minded, she had plenty of space. It was amazing what some makeup and presence did. 

A man in a rather nice suit slided up to the bar next to her. He had a basic black mask that Toni had made sure there were plenty of at the door. It was just a generic covering the eyes. She arched an eyebrow at the person as the music blared around her. The smile that greeted her, how ever, told her exactly who it was, but because it was supposed to be a masked ball, she played along. 

“Mr. Bond. I didn’t expect to see you here, aren’t you usually trying to run away from me?”

Her tone was sultry as she stayed in her seat, showing a great deal more leg than was needed, but hey, it was a party, her’s in fact, and she was 99% sure that the man next to her was Phil. He grinned down at her. 

“Miss… Death?”

“That would be Lady to you.”

He took her hand and made a show of kissing the black and red ring and the skin just above it. His voice gave her that extra 1% that she’d needed. There was no way she wouldn’t remember it. As he came back up she saw the dusting of white on his lips, lighting up in the pulsing black light from the dance floor. She watched him for a second, before turning to the bar. There were already two drinks sitting there, she nodded to the woman behind the bar who grinned at her. The drink looked dark, but who really knew what it was? Death picked up both of them and held it out to “Bond”. 

“I believe it’s polite to thank the hostess for such a lovely party, before I run away again.”

Toni grinned as Phil continued to play along. It was nice actually. She sipped at the drink, noting that it was sangria. Well fruity was nice. And different from the normal hard liquor that she normally drank. 

“Maybe I should lock you away so you can’t.”

Her purr was barely audible over the music, and he was forced to lean forward. It gave her a chance to give his cheek a quick peck, leaving the mark that she’d left on both Pepper and Rhodey. Happy had managed to dodge it so far. The blue eyes were quick to catch hers, a bit accusatory. So he knew she’d done it. Oh well. She continued to drink her sangria, amused that the bartender had thought this appropriate for herself. SHe had no idea what her ‘Mr Bond’ had gotten. 

“Isn’t that a terrible way to keep a man?”

Toni found herself laughing a bit. She put the glass down as he drew closer crowding her. One of the few times she didn’t mind someone getting that close. 

“Is there a better way, Mr Bond?”

She emphasized his name, getting a chuckle as he leaned down to brush his lips against her throat. Suddenly he seized her hand and pulled her off her seat towards the dance floor as a slower song started. She let him lead a bit startled. He pulled her close and was actually a good lead. Normally, Toni had to back lead, if there was any actual dancing. There wasn’t much here, but he did spin her once. She enjoyed the quiet moment. They continued to dance even when the music got more wild. The “Monster Mash” came on, and it wasn’t long before the entire party was dancing in unison. It was a fun time as midnight got closer. Her “Mr. Bond” didn’t leave her side the entire night, getting a few comments, but hey, no one knew who they were, technically. Her hood was thrown back more than once, showing the coiffed hair sitting on her head, a little whispy, but kept in place. It looked not out of place on a halloween movie set, but it was stunning none the less with little bone pins. 

She had more than one very badly dressed grim reaper try to get her attention. Lady Death, however, gave them no mind, though there was a pushy one, who was at least clever. He wore an all black suit, and slicked back black hair. His face was covered in a skull mask, and his hands had those black and white bones. She actually liked him, but her escort was being possessive, and pulled her full attention back to him with a grab around her waist, and a quick, if a bit aggressive kiss. She enjoyed it and flounced off as it got close to midnight. It was supposed to be the unmasking time soon. She lead the way to the balcony above the party. There were a few people on the second level, but they moved away as she, Pepper, Happy (who had a lot of pink lipstick on his lips, but no one was going to say anything) and Rhodey. Phil got excited and started to chat with Rhodey about Captain America, leaving Toni to watch the party as everyone noted the time and started to get a bit restless. 

JARVIS was in her ear as the time started to count down. She stepped up to the balcony fully and JARVIS turned the lights down low, and gave her a spot light of purple. She trusted her companions noticed the change. Behind her Phil moved quietly to stand just to her right and behind a bit, getting his own grayish spotlight, as JARVIS was flexible with the program. Pepper slipped to his right, getting a soft orange spotlight, and Rhodey moved to Toni’s left. His light was blue, causing the white to look bluer. Happy was to his left, but he got a dark orange spotlight. Toni paused as she watched and waited for everyone to focus on her. 

“Thank you for coming to my lovely Halloween Masked Ball!”

The screams of excitement only made her smile as the staff she’d hired moved through the crowd giving everyone a bag of goodies. A new Stark Phone, some rather expensive candy, and the like. It was the trick or treating time. She had a few entertainers who were moving through the crowds, being ghosts, liches, skeletons or other creepy things. The party really was just starting. 

“As this is a masked ball, I invite you to put down your glasses and raise your masks!”

The scurry to put their alcohol down made her laugh a bit, getting a quick tug from Phil. She enjoyed the moment as people turned their attention to her. This wasn’t supposed to be a long speech, but something fun. She was the first to pull off her mask, reaching behind her head to untie the black ribbon, letting the mask fall from her face, but catching it. Pepper and Rhodey were next, and the rest of the party followed. Toni smiled at everyone down below, her light had changed to white to make it easier to see her. 

“Now, let's party!”

The sound of music and screams was overwhelming for a moment, and Toni rode the high. These were those moments you remembered. It wasn’t long before Phil (and it was him) pulled her close and back from the edge of the balcony to kiss her. She had no idea how much alcohol he’d drank, but he seemed looser than normal. She was left rather breathless as they found a chair, and people surged into the area, the second level opening up to everyone and the party continuing. 

Somehow they ended up outside, on a balcony overlooking the sea. The thumping of the music behind them was dulled by the crashing of the waves on the cliffs below. The storm had subsided, but everything was wet, and a bit cold, though it didn’t seem to matter much as the moon had risen, giving her an unearthly glow. They were both lost, for a moment, in the beauty of the view before them. The Pacific was giving them a beautiful show. He suddenly pulled her close and found her lips. The cloak hadn’t kept the cold out but it didn’t much matter. She shivered as his fingers slipped down her chest under the fabric of her bodice, brushing against her nipple. She whimpered softly against him. Her hand brushed under his jacket, finding the edge of his pants to tug up his shirt. She had the other hand on the rail, keeping balance as he pressed her against him, his lips moving down her jaw and down her throat. She moaned softly as that hand moved to his hair before stroking down his neck, undoing his tie as she went, her other hand finding the edge of his shirt and brushing against his skin. His throaty growl made her feel a bit weak as he left a hickey just above the fabric of her dress. Her dark eyes were clouded with desire as he dragged her closer, taking her lips again. Her finger drifted to his belt, but he caught her hand his blue eyes burning with desire as he looked down at her. 

“Your room, now.”

His demand was easily met as she tried to move around him. It took him a second to step back, He didn’t let her get too far ahead, finding a way for his mouth to be on her neck, breast or even hand the entire way, stopping just before the door to shove her against it lifting her up so she was no longer touching the ground. Now he let her back at his belt, which she flipped open easily. Her fingers found him, half erect, easily. Her fingers stroked him as he pulled down the front of the dress. His mouth found her nipple and she cried out from the pleasure, before his hand found the doorknob, and the door opened behind her. She squeaked as the pressure from behind her disappeared. She wrapped both arms around the back of his neck, before realizing he still had her, and loosened her grasp. He grinned up at her as he got them to her bed, dropping her down as he collapsed next to her. She quickly moved to unbuttoning his shirt, her fingers finding the underside of the undershirt again, and dragging her nails along the edge of his pants. He moaned in surprise as she did so, before his hands moved to tug off her dress. It took a moment, as she started to reach behind herself to grab the zipper. HIs hand got there first as he undid it with a quick movement, and she quickly pulled it over her head. Toni moaned again as his lips touched her breast, and her head fell back for a moment, before refocusing on getting him as vulnerable as she was. His pants followed his button down, as did his undershirt. 

Phil gently pushed Toni onto the bed, and she watched him as he stared down at her, his knees between hers, watching her. Suddenly he fell forward and took her lips as his hand went to her hair, pulling out the pins, and loosing the dark hair on the white sheets. He thrust into her suddenly, desire taking over, and Toni gasped a bit, surprised more than anything else. With a smile she started to move her hips in a circular way, getting a moan from him before he took over. Toni was used to leading the charge, but it seemed Phil was perfectly willing to lead here. She lost count of how many times she came, but knew at least one was because of his tongue. 

It was early when they finally slept, Toni curled up against him, in a fetal position, head on his chest, holding his hand.


End file.
